Confrontational: Supreme Court of Kansas Reverses Murder Convictions Due to Confrontation Clause Error

The Confrontation Clause provides that

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him.

From the language of this Clause, it should be pretty clear whom it protects, and, by implication, whom it doesn't protect. This was not the case, however, in State v. Smith-Parker, 2014 WL 7331577 (Kan. 2014).

In Smith-Parker, Willie Smith-Parker was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, theft, and aggravated assault in connection with a burglary/homicide on the morning of June 13, 2009 and a fatal shooting on the morning of June 19, 2009. One of Smith-Parker's alleged murder victims was Justin Letourneau. In the hours before his death, Letourneau told his wife, Kendra Yanik–Ducharme, that "[she] and the kids we'll never—we'll never have to see him again."

Smith-Parker sought to admit this statement as evidence that Letourneau, who had been abusive to Yanik–Ducharme, committed suicide. The trial court, however, deemed Letourneau's statement inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause, which, as noted provides that

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him.

This language should make the trial court's error clear. The Confrontation Clause only gives the defendant the right to confrontation. If Letourneau made a statement that incriminated Smith-Parker, he could object under the Confrontation Clause. But the State has no reciprocal right, which is why the Supreme Court of Kansas found that the trial court erred in excluding Letourneau's statement. According to the court,

The district judge's Confrontation Clause ruling was based on a faulty premise—that the State has a right of confrontation equal to that of a defendant. This is not the case. 

Based on this and three other errors, the Supreme Court of Kansas reversed Smith-Parker's convictions.

-CM